NRS433A.610. Liability of certain relatives and estate of person admitted to facility for payment of costs; recovery by legal action.

      1.  When a person is admitted to a division facility or hospital under one of the various forms of admission prescribed by law, the parent or legal guardian of a person with mental illness who is a minor or the husband or wife of a person with mental illness, if of sufficient ability, and the estate of the person with mental illness, if the estate is sufficient for the purpose, shall pay the cost of the maintenance for the person with mental illness, including treatment and surgical operations, in any hospital in which the person is hospitalized under the provisions of this chapter:

      (a) To the administrative officer if the person is admitted to a division facility; or

      (b) In all other cases, to the hospital rendering the service.

      2.  If a person or an estate liable for the care, maintenance and support of a committed person neglects or refuses to pay the administrative officer or the hospital rendering the service, the State is entitled to recover, by appropriate legal action, all money owed to a division facility or which the State has paid to a hospital for the care of a committed person, plus interest at the rate established pursuant to NRS 99.040.

      (Added to NRS by 1975, 1614; A 1987, 1446; 1993, 1240)